Birmingham vs Cardiff Betting Preview

Cardiff are likely to benefit from stronger links with the Welsh national team following the appointment of Paul Trollope. The former Bristol Rovers boss was a big part of the country's Euro 2016 success and intends to play the same 3-5-2 system with the Bluebirds, a decision made easy by an excess of strong centre backs.

The arrival of Jazz Richards from Fulham to play the wing-back role has captured the imagination of supporters still high from the exploits of Chris Coleman's men in France but the new formation could lead a safety-first encounter against one of the more reactive teams in the division and the value might be with no goalscorer at 8/1.

Gary Rowett has described the current transfer window as the most testing of his career. Ryan Shotton, Robert Tesche and James Vaughan all represent solid additions with decent Championship experience but there's nothing fresh or intriguing about any of them, they've all been on loan at St Andrew's before. So Birmingham offer nothing new.

True to form, Rowett is well aware of how Cardiff intend to set up and has reacted accordingly, trialling a 3-5-2 formation himself in the last pre-season friendly against Kidderminster. It's not clear whether he intends to start with that system but the possibility of these two teams cancelling each other out is a real one.